Hearing delayed on takeover of Greenwood district

Greenwood Public School District delayed the possibility of a state takeover Tuesday by claiming numerous errors in a 46-page report prepared by auditors whom they say never once consulted district leaders for input.

District officials argued their case before the Mississippi Commission on School Accreditation, which was set to determine if the report's findings constituted an extreme emergency situation meriting the immediate loss of accreditation.

Mississippi Department of Education auditors had visited Greenwood unannounced between April 29 and May 2 but didn't provide the district a copy of their findings until Wednesday — four days before the commission meeting.

"MDE has had more than 2<AF>1/2<XA> months to compile what it calls a comprehensive report," said district attorney Carlos Palmer, "yet the Greenwood Public School District has 3<AF>1/2<XA> days to prepare and submit a comprehensive response."

Palmer and Jim Keith, an educational attorney hired by the district to consult on this case, asked for at least 10 days. If not, Keith said, the commission risks making a determination based on an erroneous report.

"I've never seen anything so one-sided," he told The Clarion-Ledger later.

Commission members entered a closed-door session to mull the request. They then voted to give Greenwood until Monday to submit a written response to the report and rescheduled another meeting on the matter for July 31.

When asked if MDE should have allowed district officials more time to respond to the report's findings, Commission Chairman Lee Childress told the media that auditors followed both MDE policy and state law.

But Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams, who also was present at the meeting, said it appeared MDE was "ramrodding" the proposed takeover without considering other options or allowing the district to refute the report's allegations.

Among the allegations are that the district has misspent more than $95,000, violated three dozen accreditation standards and created an atmosphere of "dissension, fear, low staff morale and distrust of the superintendent and the school board."

Greenwood Superintendent Montrell Greene denied many of the report's claims, which he said are based on anonymous interviews and rooted in unsubstantiated rumor rather than fact.

The first allegation in the report, for example, claims Greene provided auditors a work space under audio and video surveillance so he could monitor their activities, a tactic they claim he uses throughout the district and which contributes to a "tumultuous and uncertain environment."

Greene said the room has video cameras, which were installed under a previous administration, but no audio equipment. He denies having monitored the auditors at any time and said he could have explained the room's surveillance capabilities — or lack thereof — had they asked.

He and McAdams blamed disgruntled district employees and community members for trying to sabotage the current administration because their preferred superintendent wasn't chosen.

In April 2013, the Greenwood School Board appointed Greene instead of Jennifer Wilson, an interim superintendent who had led the district since the abrupt resignation of the previous superintendent, Margie Pulley.

Pulley left in September 2012 and now serves as a conservator for the Oktibbeha County School District, which was under state takeover until the commission restored its accreditation status Tuesday.

Wilson resigned after losing out to Greene.

"It's very political," McAdams said.

Keith admitted the district has challenges, including some of those highlighted in the report. But many of its problems, he said, span at least two or three prior administrations and didn't develop in the one year since Greene took office.

Childress said the commission has no knowledge of any factional fighting within the city or the school district and could base decisions only on the report's findings.

If the commission votes to strip Greenwood's accreditation, the recommendation would then go to Gov. Phil Bryant for his approval.

Currently, four other school districts are under state takeover due to a state of emergency, according to the MDE website.